Chapter 16 - Fates, Fins, and Fangs

ONCE WE HAD SHOWERED and found dry clothes, I found Chike waiting for me in the living room. Kai was upstairs trying to convince the twins to go to sleep. No normal kid would be able to go to sleep after the night we'd just had, but these weren't normal kids. They were half gryphon, half fox shifters. And apparently, they were used to their parents' weird, scary other lives.

Chike was bundled up in a throw on an oversized sectional that could seat, oh, about six adults and a couple of twins. Everything in Gesa’s house was oversized. I guess it had to be, when “couple” turned into “sextet.”  My...sea creature was sipping a cup coffee while he flipped through TV stations, his damp purple hair in a loose braid over one shoulder. He gave me an unconvincing smile and nodded to the other steaming cup that sat on the coffee table.

My pulse was loud in my ears as I went and joined him, snuggling under the blanket like a refugee with my warm drink.

“How bad is it?” I asked, even though a large part of me really, really didn’t want to know. I’d rather just snuggle with Chike and pretend nothing odd had happened today.

He had the TV on mute, and I realized why when he stopped on a national news station. The reporter was wide-eyed and shouting as some sort of blasts went off around her, the camerawork shaky as they tried to catch what was going on without getting caught up in the middle of the chaos. Text scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

All the major U.S. cities were being attacked by various types of supernatural beings. No one knew the end result yet. Only that it was bad.

Burning buildings and bodies in the streets bad.

“The local channels are down,” Chike said, his smooth voice making me jump. I didn’t think I’d ever not be on edge again. “But if the others got the wards up in time, it won’t be as bad here as it is out there. I guess that’s one reason to be happy about White’s existence.”

I swallowed hard, a weird sort of numbness settling in.

Chike gave me a sad look, then turned off the TV. “Whatever happens, you’re safe, Troy. You have strong friends, and people in high places who care about you. We’ll make sure you’re safe.”

I just stared at him, still trying to take in everything that was happening around me. I found if I worked at it, I could still see my friend. The one I’d known since high school. But it was jarring. Chike had always seemed so pretty and soft. Yet tonight I’d seen him killing monsters like it was second nature. I’d seen the sharp teeth and terrible power that lived inside him. How could things ever be normal again?

Chike set his coffee aside and reached for my free hand, cupping it between his own. His amethyst eyes were brighter and more otherworldly than ever. “Troy?”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “You’re still you,” I said, stupidly.

He gave me a wry smile. “You mean amazing, and smart, and absolutely the best? Then yes, I’m still just like always.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Yep, still definitely Chike.”

He ran his thumbs over the backs of my hands, and I set my coffee aside so I could run my own fingers over the delicate, iridescent webbing between the base of his long fingers. When I realized I was probably being rude, I glanced up to find him giving me a guarded look.

“I can use glamour,” he said, trying to pull his hand away from mine. “To make myself look human again, if you want. If this is too creepy.”

I shook my head. “No! I...don’t want to deal with any more illusions. I want to see what’s real, for once in my life.” I squeezed his hand. “Just...I want to know you for real.”

It sounded so dumb. But I knew Chike understood. And he did just what I needed him to do, without any over-the-top sappy emoting. He took my mind away from the destruction happening outside our little bubble. And he let me glimpse another layer of who he was, all while still being completely Chike about it, wry and unphased.

He was telling me a story about some trouble he'd gotten into as a child, playing pranks on his mer siblings off the coast of Madagascar, near the area of the Indian ocean where his pod lived, when the air in the room started to...tingle.

I stared toward the center of the room as people began to materialize. Hisashi appeared first. Then the others started to materialize around him, once more gripping his fuzzy fox tails. They were all covered in dirt and blood, but everyone looked like they'd survived.

The minute they materialized, Oisin paced forward, his emerald green eyes sharp and his elven features on full display. "Where's Kai?"

I blinked at him. "Um. Upstairs. Putting the kids to bed."

He dashed to the stairs and took them two at a time, disappearing upstairs. Gesa was hot on his heels. Hisashi gave me and Chike an apologetic smile. "She's okay, then?"

I nodded. Chike rolled his eyes. "She's a fucking kraken, Hisashi. She didn't suddenly become a fragile little flower just because she's knocked up."

Hisashi's fox ears twitched and his tails waved about him in a fluffy halo, but he just smirked at Chike. "You'll understand the first time your mate is carrying a child."

Chike rolled his eyes and stood. "Fuck off. Where's Rhys?"

Hisashi, Halstad, and Con were already moving toward the stairs to check on Kai themselves. When the crowd dwindled, there was no tall blond hunk standing behind them. My heart stuttered in my chest.

Hisashi just smirked at Chike's concern. "He didn't suddenly become a fragile little flower, Chike."

The merman waved a middle finger at him. "Piss off."

Con paused to take mercy on me and Chike. "He was injured, but he's fine. White's bringing him. He's the only one who could handle Rhys when he was uh...incapacitated.

I shot to my feet. "But he's okay?"

Con smiled fondly at me. "He'll be fine." Then he hurried up the stairs to join the rest of his family.

I glanced at Chike. "What does that even mean? Why is he with White?"

Chike ran a hand over his face. "Because White is the only one who's strong enough to stop Rhys if he loses his shit."

I opened my mouth to demand a better explanation, but the front door burst open, slamming into the wall with the force. Derek fucking White himself strolled in.

Okay, so he didn't stroll, so much as awkwardly stumble. He was as tall and darkly handsome as ever. Even without his suit jacket and looking all rumpled, he still managed to give off that air of command. Like he just expected everyone around him to obey.

But it looked like he was struggling a little with his underlings.

Derek looked normal to me, or as normal as he ever did. I thought I caught a flash of red in his eyes every now and then, but his body never changed. He didn't grow fangs or scales. However, I knew my weird new supe sight was still working, because Orion was clinging to White's side, and I barely recognized the man.

The caramel-colored curls and angelic scarred face were the same, but Orion was sporting a massive set of dark blue bat wings, a curly set of horns, and a long, spade-pointed tail. He clung to White, wrapped around him like an insistent cat. White had one arm around his secretary's waist, while the other hand gripped the back of Rhys's neck, dragging the tall blond along like a misbehaving dog.

All in all, I'd say it was fair to describe White's glowering expression as "pretty pissed off." He dragged his companions into the room and slammed the door shut with a backward kick from his shiny black dress shoe. Then he stopped to stare at Chike. "I believe this is yours," he told the merman, giving Rhys a little shake.

Rhys bared his long, wicked fangs and growled at the black-haired man. "Let me go, asshole."

White sneered at him. "You keep your fangs off my possessions, and I'll think about it," he said darkly.

Orion pushed up on his tiptoes, his long tail curling around White's thigh, as he tilted his head and looked at me and Chike. "Master," he breathed, the sound of his voice doing some very interesting things to my libido. "I'm so hungry. Are...they for me?"

White let out a long-suffering sigh. "No, Orion."

Orion rubbed against him and let out a weird, pathetic mewl. "Please master. I'm so hungry." He went to pull away from white and prowl our way, looking like sex incarnate, but White grabbed him by the back of his neck and yanked him back, pressing his face against White's broad chest. "I said no!"

Chike stepped closer to me and I wanted to rip his clothes off. What the fuck was wrong with me? It was like the air in the room was suddenly full of aphrodisiac.

Rhys ripped himself out of White's grip, making the other man snarl. "Take care of your damned incubus," Rhys ground out, his deep voice a dark purr. "I'm fine."

White narrowed his eyes at Rhys and pointed to Chike. "Feed. I'm not leaving until I know you have control of your bloodlust, leach."

Rhys rolled his eyes—which were glowing brighter than I'd ever seen before, and stepped toward Chike and me. "Are you both okay?" he asked, his deep voice rough.

I glanced around the room and swallowed around the lust that wanted to make my voice come out all throaty and...whoreish. "We're fine. Chike and Kai took care of the monsters."

A muscle ticked in White's jaw. "Monsters?"

Chike crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the taller man. "Yeah. A bunch of creatures from the woods. And they were possessed. What's that all about, White?"

Orion raked his sharp blue claws down the front of White's shirt, shredding the fabric. "Hungry," he whispered.

White grabbed Orion's wrist and ignored the bloody scratches on his chest, which I could see rapidly fading to nothing as he healed the damage. "If you're still conscious, you can wait a few minutes longer," he bit out.

Chike arched a brow. "Fuck you're an asshole. What happened to him?"

Rhys flashed to stand in front of me and Chike, faster than my eyes could follow. His eyes had a rim of red visible around the pupil. I'd never noticed that before. "There was an explosion. I was wounded and the incubus used his powers heavily to push back the attackers so they wouldn't get to me before I healed."

His gaze lowered, and it took me a minute to realize he was staring at Chike's throat. "I...lost a considerable amount of blood."

White sighed. "Get on with it, for fuck's sake."

Chike narrowed his eyes at White, his expression full of hatred. But then he returned his focus to Rhys. "Look, he's not going to go away until he's sure you aren't going to hurt Troy. So just get it over with, will you?"

Rhys let out huff, then he pulled Chike closer and grabbed his hand, pulling his arm up to expose his wrist. He used a long claw to rip Chike's shirt, opening it up past his elbow. Then he dragged his nose slowly up the inside of Chike's arm, from his wrist to the crook of his elbow, inhaling. When he reached the tender bend of Chike's elbow, he opened his mouth and sank his fangs into the smaller man's vein.

I kind of already suspected what Rhys was. But still, this was a bit much to take in. Chike closed his eyes, letting out a surprised hiss. Rhys snaked his free arm around Chike's waist, holding him still, like he expected Chike to try to get away. But Chike just calmly stood there and let Rhys drink his blood. The butterflies in my stomach were entirely inappropriate. I blamed it on the...incubus in the room.

I glanced at White to find him watching us. He raised one black eyebrow at me, a look on his face that I couldn't quite read. Orion was petting White's chest in slow, soft motions. His hand slowly fell away, and the incubus slumped, unconscious. White shifted and effortlessly scooped the other man into his arms in a bridal carry, one big, leathery wing all crushed up against White's chest, while the other trailed over his arm to drag the floor.

"Is he okay?" I said, my quiet voice loud against the weird silence in the room.

White glanced down at his secretary, a look of fond exasperation on his face. "He just overexerted himself. Once he feeds, he'll be fine. And probably extremely repentant for his embarrassing behavior."

His black eyes met mine and I felt a tug of something in my gut. Something like...recognition? The sensation was gone as soon as it came, and I turned my eyes back to Rhys and Chike, trying not to wonder if White intended on feeding his incubus servant himself, or....

I found Chike watching me, his amethyst eyes heavy and full of lust. He shoved at Rhys's chest and the vampire lifted his head easily, pausing to lick the puncture marks on Chike's arm. The twin holes healed before my eyes, and Chike pulled his arm away, rolling up the destroyed shirt sleeve. "Okay," he said, glaring at White once more. "Vampire fed. Troy's safe. Now you can fuck off."

White ignored him, pacing closer to me as he headed toward the stairs, and probably the guest room. His dark eyes delved into mine. "You can see their true forms now?" he asked, his deep, smoky voice deceptively soft.

I nodded. "I can."

He closed his eyes and his expression looked pained. When he opened them again, they were ringed in red. "Do you remember me, Troya?"

I blinked up at him in confusion. "What?"

Orion let out a soft moan in his sleep, his hands fisting in the tatters of White's dress shirt as a pained expression crossed his scarred, angelic face. "I'm sorry," White said, on a sigh. "I thought I would have more time to explain things to you. But there are other forces at work." He shifted his burden in his arms. "I need to take care of Orion at present."

I didn't know what the hell he was talking about, but I nodded anyway.

White turned away, but then he looked back over his shoulder. "No matter what you think when your memory returns, know I will always love you with everything I am, Troya."

I froze in shock. The crazy guy just calmly turned and carried his unconscious incubus up the stairs and disappeared toward the guest room, as if he hadn't just spouted nonsense. "I think he needs medication," I said to the room at large.

Rhys touched my elbow, drawing my attention to him. "Can we please not talk about that insufferable ass right now?" He smiled at me, and it was his same old boy-next-door grin, even with the fangs. "I think we could all use some sleep."

I arched a brow at him, sharing a glance between him and Chike. "Right. Sleep."

Chike rolled his eyes and headed toward the far side of the house, where I knew Gesa kept a room for him, even though he'd moved out two years ago. "I only have a queen-sized bed," he said without looking back. "So, you both better not kick in your sleep."

Rhys slipped an arm around my waist and steered me along after Chike. "Don't listen to him, love," he purred. "I don't kick in my sleep. I sleep like the dead." I snorted and he called after Chike. "Get it? Dead. I'm a riot."

Chike lifted his arm to wave a middle finger at the awful joke. "You'll sleep great after I put a stake in you."

Rhys leaned over to stage whisper in my ear. "Did you hear that? He wants to put his stake in me. I feel so loved."

I snorted and shoved him off me. "It's comforting," I said seriously. "To know that even if you aren't human anymore, you're both still the same idiots you always were."

Chike tossed a smile over his shoulder at me as he opened his bedroom door.